Denver, CO
Netflix has a ‘Blind’ date with Denver dropping Oct. 1 – Denver Gazette
It’s not as big as, say, when “The Real World” invaded LoDo in 2006, but it’s still pretty big in the world of reality TV. I know, because AI told me so.
“Love is Blind” is described by Netflix as “a social experiment where single men and women look for love and get engaged, all before meeting in person.” If that sounds like the end of all social norms of decency, well, that ship sailed a decade ago, because the upcoming Denver season is already No. 9. And if you already know all this … well, you’re probably under 30.
“The ‘Love Is Blind’ pods are heading west, where the Season 9 singles will explore ‘wild’ new frontiers in their search for true love!” says the show’s breathless marketing material. It goes on:
“This October, 32 Denver-based daters will embark on the adventure of a lifetime. Separated by a wall, they will date one another in hopes of building a connection based on emotional compatibility rather than physical attraction. Those who hit it off out of sight will then get engaged and take their relationships to new heights in the real world. After meeting face-to-face for the very first time, the couples must decide if they’re able to summit the mountain that is marriage – or if it’s simply too steep.”
Your hosts are Nick and Vanessa Lachey.
Now, true story: I only signed on to Netflix last week, meaning: “Love is Blind” is completely new to me. So I did a very 2025 thing: I asked AI: “Is ‘Love is Blind’ actually a big deal?” He/she/it/they responded:
“Yes, ‘Love Is Blind’ is a VERY big deal, consistently ranking in the top 10 of all Netflix shows. It has been called the top unscripted streaming program of all time in terms of appearances in the Nielsen Streaming Top 10. ‘Love is Blind’ is known for its unique premise of forming emotional connections before physical attraction, leading to dramatic moments and a massive global following that extends to international versions of the show. ‘Love Is Blind’ generates significant internet chatter and has become a cultural phenomenon, with viewers often becoming deeply invested in the couples’ journeys.”
OK, already, I’m in. (Or, am I in? I feel unclean.)
So, guess who’s coming to Denver? (OK, that line is a play on a movie title from 1967, so, most likely, it’s not gonna land here.)
Anyway, the incoming “pod squad” (get with the lingo already!) ranges in age from 27 to 41, with Aries and Gemini being the most common Zodiac signs among them. (No, I am not making that up. That is according to the official Netflix announcement.) “So, expect a few fiery spirits and some social butterflies and — since it’s Colorado — a lot of daters who love the great outdoors! There are also a couple of nurses, a few professionals in the real-estate game and a handful of hairstylists. Plus, Season 7 single Leo better watch out, because a new Rolex expert is entering the pods.”
(OK, that last sentence is surely just words in a blender … isn’t it?)
At this point, Netflix introduces you to all 32 contestants. Meet Blake: “As an April Fool’s Day baby, Blake knows how to take a joke, but he’s never been more serious about finding a partner.” Or, how about Nurse Ali? “Dating in Denver, Ali has encountered a lot of boys who aren’t ready to grow up, and she’s only in the market for men.”
What’s the Beckett line? “I can’t go on. I’ll go on.”
No, I won’t go on. The first episode of ‘Love is Blind’ Denver drops Oct. 1. I’ve done my part.
Cleo’s historic dance
Cleo Parker Robinson’s historic solo dance piece at the Sept. 6-7 Presenting Denver dance festival was one for the ages. Robinson performed “The Love We Carry,” choreographed by Christopher Page-Sanders, as a meditation on and celebration of the life of her husband, Tom Robinson, co-founder of the company that bears her name. Cleo Parker Robinson received a standing ovation that lasted nearly as long as her 8-minute performance.
“A year ago, I approached Christopher Page-Sanders to choreograph a solo for Cleo – mind you, I had not asked Cleo yet,” said festival artistic director Marisa Hollingsworth. Then I asked (Dance/USA Council Chair) Rhetta Shead, and the three of us tag-teamed Cleo and convinced her that she could do this.”
Some news out of the festival: A trio dance by the Hannah Kahn Dance Company was “the last dance,” as Hollingsworth said, for the eponymous Hannah Kahn, artistic director of the modern-dance company that she founded in New York in 1986 and moved to Denver in 1988.
“She’s officially retiring right after the show and moving to Michigan to be with her daughter and son-in-law and grandkids,” said Hollingsworth, who was pregnant while dancing in Kahn’s company more than 14 years ago.
Kahn has created more than 140 dances over the past 50 years, many informed by the practice of Tai Chi. She was named a “Living Legend of Dance” for her contributions to dance in Colorado by the Carson Brierly Dance Library.
And what of Presenting Denver?
“We are a very small nonprofit service organization that uplifts small and medium dancers and companies,” Hollingsworth said.
Moore Creative Emmy Awards
Choreographer Mandy Moore, raised in Summit County, has been nominated for 14 Primetime Emmy Awards, starting in 2008 and continuing all the way up to … this past week, when she was nominated for her work on the 2025 Oscars broadcast. Moore was feted for her choreography of the James Bond and Quincy Jones tribute performances. The statue went to Robbie Blue for choreographing Doechii’s musical performance on the Grammy Awards.
Well, what will be will be. Moore has four Emmy wins on her C.V. for her work on “Dancing with the Stars” (2017), “So You Think You Can Dance” (2018), “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (2020) and “Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas” (2021).
“It’s always an honor to be included in the moment,” Moore posted on Instagram, along with a photo of her father, actor Bob Moore, and sister, Missy Moore, artistic director of the Thunder River Theatre Company in Carbondale.
New boss at Performance Now
Add another creative title for award-winning director Kelly Van Oosbree. She’s already Artistic Director and board president of the recently renamed Platte Valley Theatre Arts in Brighton. She’s additionally been named artistic director at Lakewood’s Performance Now, where she already frequently works as a director and/or choreographer.
The new gig, she said, won’t impact the ongoing one. “I only artistic-direct at community theaters that start with P,” she joked.
Van Oosbree replaces Alisa Inahara, who served for 20 years following the death of company cofounder Nancy Goodwin, and will remain as board secretary.
Currently playing at Performance Now is “The Little Mermaid” through Sept 21.
Briefly …
Last night, Jonathan Watkins’ new ballet “A Single Man” opened at London’s Linbury Theatre with music by Denver’s own John Grant (formerly of the iconic band The Czars). Inspired by Christopher Isherwood’s novel, the story follows George, a middle-aged professor in 1960s California as he navigates a single day shaped by love and loss. Grant calls the ballet “a healing meditation on sexuality, grief and midlife.” He posted a photo after the show posing alongside none other than the great actor Tilda Swinton. …
Denver East High School has a film festival. And this year’s big guest is a big-time alumna: Film star Pam Grier, known the world over for her signature roles in 1970s blaxploitation films. Grier will be present Sept. 27 for a screening of Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown,” followed by a Q&A. The fest will also include a new documentary covering the school’s 150-year history. Info at eastangelfoundation.org.
John Moore is The Denver Gazette’s senior arts journalist. Email him at john.moore@gazette.com
Craig Morton, a Broncos Ring of Fame quarterback who played professionally for nearly two decades, died Saturday at his home in Mill Valley, Calif., at the age of 83.
Morton’s family confirmed his death through the organization, which announced the news on Monday.
Morton led Denver to its first Super Bowl appearance in 1977, quarterbacking the team best known for its ferocious Orange Crush defense. That season, at the age of 34, Morton earned the league’s comeback player of the year award and sparked a six-season run with the Broncos.
“He was our leader that year that we went 12-2, the first year he came to Denver,” fellow Broncos Ring of Famer and former safety Steve Foley told The Post. “It was a magical season. He was just tough as nails.”
Morton was hurt throughout the playoffs and Foley said the quarterback was in the hospital before the AFC Championship Game, when the Broncos beat the Oakland Raiders, 20-17, and advanced to their first Super Bowl appearance.
“I don’t know how he even suited up,” Foley said. “He was black and blue and yellow all over his hip. … Man, he came out and had a great game. He was just tough.
“And what a gem of a guy. Oh, yeah. He had the best heart.”
Morton was the first quarterback to lead two different teams to the Super Bowl, taking the Cowboys there in 1970 before later leading the Broncos.
Morton was born in February 1943 in Michigan, but graduated from high school in California and played quarterback in college at Cal. He also played baseball in college. He was selected No. 5 overall by Dallas in the 1965 NFL Draft, five years before the AFL and NFL merged.
Early in his career, Morton started for Dallas over Roger Staubach before Staubach eventually took over the job.
Morton, though, engineered a long and successful career in pro football.
He played in 207 career games over 18 seasons, including 72 games (64 starts) for the Broncos from 1977-82. Morton was 41-23 as a starter and threw for 11,895 yards for Denver.
“He had a confidence about himself. Kind of a swagger,” Foley said. “Our offense picked up when he arrived. We just knew he could win. He brought that to the team. And man, he had an arm. Oh, yeah. He had a gun.”
Morton was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame in 1988 as part of a three-man class along with Haven Moses and Jim Turner. Four years later, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Morton’s tenure in Denver helped put the Broncos on the map.
“Absolutely, it did,” Foley said. “It made everybody wake up and say, ‘Who is this team on the interior of the United States?’ Unless you played on the East Coast or West Coast, you weren’t getting much coverage.”
Foley said he last saw Morton in the Champions Club at Empower Field during a game sometime in the past two seasons and said he remembered thinking, ‘Man, he looks great.’” Players from the Orange Crush era were surprised and saddened, then, to learn of the quarterback’s passing.
“It’s a little bit shocking,” Foley said. “He was a beautiful guy.”
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Rocky Mountain sandhill cranes battle warmer conditions due to drought
Wildlife biologist Jenny Nehring and farmer Rob Jones talk about Sandhill cranes and their impact on the San Luis Valley.
DENVER — Zoos are of necessity big gulpers of water, a fact that has some zookeepers in the drying American West working to rapidly upgrade efficiency and reduce unnecessary irrigation or leaks.
Denver Zoo, formally known as the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, has rapidly reduced its demands on threatened and declining water sources, including the Colorado River.
Among the upgrades is a sea lion water filtration system that allows most of the water to be cleaned and reused each time the pool is drained. That’s saving more than 8 million gallons a year, zoo sustainability director Blair Neelands said. “You can get in there, scrub it with a toothbrush and refill it with the same water,” she said.
Similar upgrades to an African penguin showcase reduced its water use by 95% by largely eliminating what’s sent down the drain. (Like a backyard swimming pool, though, these tanks sometimes still need to be drained and refreshed with new water to reduce mineral buildup.)
“The biggest thing for us is swapping from dump-and-fill pools to life-support systems,” Neeland said.
Another biggie is replacement of a 50-year-old water main with funding of about $3 million from the city. There’s no way of knowing how much that pipe had leaked over the years, but Neeland suspected it was more than a million gallons a year. The savings should become apparent as the zoo tracks its water use over the next few years.
Creating hippo-sized water savings
When The Arizona Republic visited in 2025, the zoo was on the cusp of eclipsing a goal to reduce its water use by half of what it had been in 2018. The zoo had used 80 million gallons in 2024, or about 219,000 a day, a 45% reduction in just a handful of years. Much of the savings had come in the form of smarter irrigation practices and use of drought-tolerant native plants where possible. The landscaping also pivoted to recycled “purple pipe” water from the city, which owns the zoo’s land, restricting potable water to areas where animals really need it.
“When people hear ‘recycled water,’ they get worried about cleanliness and hygiene,” zoo spokesman Jake Kubié said. “But it’s safe for the animals, and it’s not their drinking water.”
Getting past the water conservation goal would mean draining the pool where Mahali the hippo spent most hours lurking with just his eyes, ears and snout visible to visitors. Because he spent so much time in the pool, the water needed daily changes. It amounted to 21 million gallons a year, not to mention water heater bills that drove the cost to $200,000 a year, according to zoo officials. They estimated that Mahali used as much water as 350,000 four-person households.
“This facility is outdated,” Kubié said. “Some day this will become a huge saver of water.”
That day came before year’s end, and it indeed brought a tremendous savings. The zoo shipped Mahali to a new home (and a potential mate) at a wildlife preserve in Texas and drained the pool one last time. Ending the daily change-outs shaved more than a quarter of the zoo’s entire water usage from the previous year. It put the zoo significantly beyond its goal.
Denver Zoo’s water savings are part of a broader waste- and pollution-prevention effort aimed at being a good neighbor in uncertain times, Neeland said.
“Water savings and drought is top of mind for anyone who lives in the Western United States,” she said.
In Phoenix, a different mix of animals
That’s true of the Phoenix Zoo, as well, where zookeepers must maintain landscaping and animal exhibits in a city that baked under 100-degree-plus high temperatures for a third of the days last year. The zoo creates a “respite in the desert,” spokeswoman Linda Hardwick said, but has no hippos, penguins, grizzly bears or many of the other species that would require big water investments for outdoor swimming or cooling.
“We really specialize in animals that will thrive in the temperatures here,” Hardwick said.
The Phoenix Zoo uses most of its water on landscaping. After a consultant’s 2023 irrigation assessment, the staff centralized irrigation scheduling under a single trained technician and employed technologies including weather-based controllers and smart meters. Salt River Project awarded $70,000 in grant funds for the upgrades and several thousand more for training.
The zoo uses about 189,000 gallons a day, she said. That represents a 17% reduction from 2023, or 20% when adjusted for the year’s particular weather and evapotranspiration demand.
Brandon Loomis covers environmental and climate issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Reach him at brandon.loomis@arizonarepublic.com.
Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
Follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram.
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